Welcome to the 600 Club, Kim Mulkey.
This one certainly didn’t come easy, but Baylor’s 20th-year head coach picked up her 600th career win as the No. 2-ranked Baylor Lady Bears used a dominant fourth quarter to finally put away Texas Tech, 77-62, Tuesday night at United Supermarkets Arena.
Posting her 600th career victory in her 700th game – all at Baylor – Mulkey passed Kentucky’s Adolph Rupp (704) as the fastest in Division I men’s or women’s basketball to get to 600 and UConn’s Geno Auriemma (716) as the fastest on the women’s side.
“Coaches are only as good as their players, that’s the God’s truth,” said Mulkey, whose team improved to 24-1 overall and 13-0 in the Big 12 while extending its conference winning streaks to 54-consecutive overall and 43 in a row on the road. “I can draw up every play in America. I can be the smartest coach in the world. But, if you don’t have players, and they don’t go out there and perform, you don’t win basketball games.”
Mulkey said she got to 600 victories that quickly “because of the kids,” with the players donning special “600” T-shirts and caps and dousing her with water when the coach made it back to the locker room.
She also credited her coaching staff, including “three of them that have been me with since I’ve been at Baylor, with the exception of a couple years.” Assistant AD Johnny Derrick and Coordinator of Women’s Basketball Operations Jennifer Roberts followed Mulkey from Louisiana Tech 20 years ago, while associate head coach Bill Brock had a brief stint at Tech in the middle of a 17-year run at Baylor.
“That’s unheard of,” Mulkey said of her coaching staff stability. “Coaches are always looking for the next phone call, the next job. That’s why you win 600 as quickly as we did. And thirdly, I’m getting old. I’m just getting old, but I still have a lot of fight left, still got a lot of gas left in the tank.”
Senior guard Juicy Landrum, who scored six of her team-high 19 points in a pivotal 9-0 run that gave the Lady Bears the lead for good early in the fourth quarter, was also part of Mulkey’s 500th win three years ago against Tech.
“And now, getting 600 and being able to celebrate that with her, that is special,” said Landrum, who also reached the 1,000 career points milestone on the same night.
Grad transfer guard Te’a Cooper, who’s only been a part of the last 24 wins in her one season with the Lady Bears, said Mulkey winning 600 games in 20 years is a “remarkable thing to do.”
“I’m happy for her in everything that she’s done,” said Cooper, who scored 11 points to go with seven assists and three steals. “It’s just amazing to be a part of it now.”
With the game tied at 52-52 going into the fourth quarter, Cooper drained a wide-open 3-pointer just 12 seconds into the final period. Landrum followed with a layup and capped the run with a pull-up jumper that put the Lady Bears on top, 59-52.
“I felt like we needed to get some perimeter kids involved offensively,” Mulkey said. “We’re always going to get post touches, but I felt like we needed to get some perimeter shots for certain kids. We just ran a couple of sets, and they nailed some shots.”
Cooper and Landrum combined for 14 of Baylor’s 25 points in the fourth quarter and sealed the win by hitting 5-of-6 from the line.
“We were just trying to execute the things she drew up in the huddle for me to hit the shot,” Landrum said. “She said, ‘this is your shot,’ so I just tried my best to execute and hit the shot.”
Tech (15-9, 4-9) was able to stay close in the first half, hitting five 3-pointers and outrebounding the Lady Bears, 22-19. Brittany Brewer had a monster first half with 11 points, nine rebounds and three blocks.
“Honestly, if they play like that, they’re going to win a lot of these remaining games,” Mulkey said. “If you look at the stats, we didn’t play a bad game. Let’s compliment Texas Tech and just say that they played a really good game. . . . We took their best shot, and you’re leaving here with a 15-point victory.”
In a back-and-forth first half, Baylor matched its biggest lead when Landrum fed Queen Egbo with a layup off a Chrislyn Carr turnover to go up 38-33 with 1:01 left. The Lady Raiders took the momentum into the locker room, though, when Carr drained her second 3-pointer of the night to make it 38-36 at the break.
Baylor outscored Tech, 25-10, in the fourth quarter and held the Lady Raiders to just 2-of-11 from the floor and 0-for-5 from outside the arc.
The Lady Bears finished the game with five players in double figures, with Lauren Cox and NaLyssa Smith scoring 13 apiece, Egbo adding 12 and Cooper 11. DiDi Richards had her typical all-around game with nine points, eight boards and five assists.
Brewer had a double-double with 19 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks, but also had five of Tech’s 13 turnovers. Lexi Gordon (16) and Carr (11) also scored in double figures and each hit three of the Lady Raiders’ seven 3-pointers.
Baylor returns home for three of its next four games, including a matchup against Oklahoma (12-13, 5-8) at 4 p.m. Saturday. The Sooners, who have a midweek bye, have dropped three in a row and seven of their last nine.
“As long as we’re competing for championships and getting good players and Baylor takes good care of us, we’ll keep doing it,” Mulkey said. “I want them to get that ring again.”
This one certainly didn’t come easy, but Baylor coach Kim Mulkey picked up her 600th career win as the top-ranked Baylor Lady Bears dominated the fourth quarter to finally put away Texas Tech, 77-62, Tuesday night at United Supermarkets Arena.
Juicy Landrum scored seven of her team-high 19 points in a pivotal 9-0 run that gave the Lady Bears (24-1, 13-0) the lead for good. In addition to Mulkey’s milestone win, Baylor extended its conference win streaks to 54-consecutive overall and 43 in a row on the road.
Posting her 600th career victory in her 700th game, Mulkey passed Kentucky’s Adolph Rupp (704) as the fastest men’s or women’s coach to get to 600 and UConn’s Geno Auriemma (716) as the fastest on the women’s side.
“Coaches are only as good as their players, that’s the God’s truth,” said Mulkey, who improved to 600-100. “I can draw up every play in America. I can be the smartest coach in the world. But, if you don’t have players, and they don’t go out there and perform, you don’t win basketball games.
“Those 600 victories, coming as quickly as they did, it’s because of those kids. Secondly, it’s because of the coaching staff. . . . I’ve got three of them that have been with me since I’ve been at Baylor, with the exception of a couple years. That’s unheard of now. And thirdly, I’m getting old. I’m just getting old, but I still have a lot of fight left.
Tech (15-9, 4-9) was able to stay close in the first half, hitting five 3-pointers and outrebounding the Lady Bears, 22-19. Brittany Brewer nearly had a double-double in the first half with 11 points, nine rebounds and three blocks
In a back-and-forth first half, Baylor matched its biggest lead when Landrum fed Queen Egbo with a layup off a Chrislyn Carr turnover to go up 38-33 with 1:01 left. The Lady Raiders took the momentum into the locker room, though, when Carr drained her second 3-pointer of the night to make it 38-36 at the break.
Tied at 52-52 after three quarters, Baylor finally created some separation in the first two-plus minutes of the fourth period with a wide-open 3-pointer by Te’a Cooper, a fastbreak layup by Landrum off an outlet pass from DiDi Richards and a jumper by Landrum that put the Lady Bears on top, 59-52.
Baylor outscored Tech, 25-10, in the fourth quarter and held the Lady Raiders to just 2-of-11 from the floor and 0-for-5 from outside the arc.
The Lady Bears finished the game with five players in double figures, with Lauren Cox and NaLyssa Smith scoring 13 apiece, Egbo adding 12 and Cooper 11 points with seven assists and three steals.
Brewer had a double-double with 19 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks, but also had five of Tech’s 13 turnovers. Lexi Gordon (16) and Carr (11) also scored in double figures and each hit three of the Lady Raiders’ seven 3-pointers.
Baylor returns home for three of its next four games, including a matchup against Oklahoma (12-13, 5-8) at 4 p.m. Saturday. The Sooners, who have a midweek bye, have dropped three in a row and seven of their last nine.
